Anne Jaeger was a local reporter for KEZI in Eugene, Ore., at the time. [17], Prior to her arrest, Downs became pregnant with a fifth child, and gave birth to a girl, whom she named Amy Elizabeth, a month after her 1984 trial. [15] Christie Downs, Diane Downs' first child who testified at her trial, suffers from a speech disability. Downs told investigators that she and her children had been shot in a carjacking, but police found a secret diary detailing her obsession with a married man who did not want kids. When you visit this site, it may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. I was very stern with her.". It hasnt been easy, but it has been worth it. Our MPs are worse than the Italians - it's so bad I want John Major back, Inside life of Bitcoin trader suspected of faking own death as widow says she tried to kill herself after dream imploded, The Queen knows us. At around 10 p.m. that May night, police said Diane Downs pulled over to the side of a country road near Springfield and shot her three small children multiple times at close range. Offers may be subject to change without notice. The couple divorced in 1980 over Steven's insistence their son, Danny, was the result of an affair and not his biological child. Doug Welch remembers getting the call for what would turn out to be his first homicide investigation. Downs, herself, started feeling sick and was told by a supervisor to rest after seemingly showcasing symptoms at work, where she refurbishes bicycles for underprivileged children. I mean, think about it. [32], Last edited on 17 February 2023, at 03:51, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, "Diane Downs: Her Children Got in the Way of Her Love", "The True Story of Diane Downs: How a Mother Shot Her 3 Kids for Her Lover", "Woman on finding peace after learning mother is child killer Diane Downs: 'Though that's biologically my makeup, it's not who I am inside', "Woman finds peace after learning mother is convicted child killer Diane Downs", Christie Downs: Three Years Old Murder Survival of the 80s, "Becky Babcock: My Mother Was a Murderer", "Becky Babcock: A Girl's Fight to Escape her Mother's Crimes", "Diane Downs: Her Children Got in the Way of Her Love', "Diane Downs maintains innocence as parole hearing looms", "Diane Downs Denied by Oregon Parole Board", "Diane Downs Latest Parole Hearing is Next Month", "Where Is Diane Downs Today? Amy, who was adopted and given the name BeckyBabcock, went public about her mother in 2010 and has also met her in a bid to find out about her roots. She described him as a "bushy haired stranger". Her three small children, Christie, 8; Cheryl, 7; and Danny, 3, were inside her blood-soaked car, shot at close range. But what happened to Diane Downs' husband? "There were a number of things which didn't make sense, even that first night," Welch said. She took a detour off of Marcola Road onto Old Mohawk Road to do some sightseeing., By this time it was dark, and the kids were sleeping. Within a few weeks, the kids who had survived were placed in protective custody and were no longer in Steve's care. ', I didnt just tear it open and start reading, Babcock tells the show. On May 19, 1983, Diane Downs drove herself and her three children to an emergency room in Springfield, Oregon, saying she had been shot by a "bushy-haired ma. Late one May night in 1983, Diane Downs sped into an emergency room dropoff in Springfield, Ore., with a horrifying story to tell. It's not even known if he still resides in Arizona, where he used to live with Diane and their three kids. EUGENE -- It was 27 years ago tomorrow that single mother Elizabeth Diane Downs shot her three children -- killing one and seriously injuring the other two -- on a dark, rural Lane County. Police arrested Downs Feb. 28, 1984, nine months after the shootings. According to Oprah.com, Christie and Dannyhave chosen to live private lives. In 1989, the Associated Press reported that then 14-year-old Christie Ann was left with speech impairment, and 9-year-old Danny is paralyzed from the waist down. I knew my entire life that I was adopted, Babcock tells the show in an exclusive clip obtained by PEOPLE. By the time Wilhite arrived, Downs had driven her blood-soaked car to the emergency room. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. Downs told investigators that she and her. When I hear about three children being shot, I thought, How am I going take care of three people? Because I wasn't afraid of what I needed to do. READ MORE: abcn.ws/2W9dzyC In 1983, Diane Downs. She was denied parole in 2008 and continues to proclaim her innocence. Most of Downs' sentence is to be served consecutively. Convicted child killer Diane Downs is seen on a video as the Oregon parole board unanimously rules that she remains dangerous and must stay in prison during a hearing at Chemeketa Community College in Salem, Ore., Dec. 10, 2010. Diane Downs is an American murder convict who has been serving a life sentence since 1984. After months of physical and mental therapy, Christie Downs was finally able to take the stand and tell what happened to her that horrible night. [3] Much of the case against her rested on the testimony of her surviving daughter, Christie, who, once she recovered her ability to speak, described how her mother shot all three children while parked at the side of the road, and then shot herself in the arm. The circumstances of Becky Babcocks birth were troubled to say the least. ET on ABC. He was instead a result of an affair Diane had with a married man. However, according to her interviews and Facebook page, Becky today appears to have forged a successful life. [27] A made-for-TV movie, also titled Small Sacrifices, starred Farrah Fawcett as Downs, and was aired on ABC in 1989. At around 10 p.m. that May night, police said Diane Downs pulled over to the side of a country road near Springfield and shot her three small children multiple times at close range. Whether it tugs at your heartstrings or angers you to the core, these stories could have happened years ago, and they still take up space in your memories. Downs had also been shot, in the left forearm, though her wound was not life threatening. Her three children -- 8-year-old Christie, 7-year-old Cheryl and 3 . She went to the University of Oregon and now lives with her husband and children in the town. Meanwhile, Christie Downs was slowly beginning to tell what she remembered of the shootings. Danny, a computer whiz, is still partially paralyzed from the bullet in his back, but he is living a happy and normal life. According to The Cinemaholic, Steve was found to not be a good fit to care for his kids who would need specialized care and had been through a very traumatic event. They had another sibling, born in the middle, in 1976, Cheryl Lynn, but she didnt survive the shooting. Powered by WordPress.com VIP. He worked quickly and eventually was able to revive Christie. [13], Prosecutors argued that Downs shot her children to be free of them, so that she could continue her affair with Knickerbocker, as she claimed that he let it be known that he did not want children in his life. They told of her obsession with a married man who didn't want her kids around. Conflicting reports say Downs also acted as a surrogate during her fourth pregnancy, giving birth to a daughter after her trial in 1984. Cops decided she was lying. Watch the full story on "20/20" Friday, March 22, at 9 p.m. And I said to her, We don't know that. Diane Downs gave birth to four children. When police arrived at the scene, Downs, 27 at the time, told them a bizarre story of being flagged down by a bushy-haired stranger on a dark and deserted country road. Although police had found spent .22 caliber bullet casings at the crime scene, an exhaustive search of the area did not turn up the murder weapon. In the frantic scene, hospital employees quickly determined that Cheryl was already dead and that Christie and Danny were clinging to life. Is Oregon relatively virus-free, or are my children in greater danger than the red circle size suggests? I wanted to relate to her not as a mother, because I had a mother just as somebody who felt the pain and the emptiness that I felt in that time., She wrote back super quickly, Babcock says. Jaeger says Downs told her she had picked someone on her postal route to seduce prior to her arrest. "And they give me love, they give me satisfaction, they give me stability, they give me a reason to live and a reason to be happy, and thats gone, they took it from me, but children are so easy to conceive.". Where are Diane Downs' children now? They have both graduated from college. But Im on track and Im really happy with the way life is.. And, Cheryl Lynn, had reportedly told a neighbor of her grandparents that she was afraid of her mother. The baby was taken by the state and delivered to adoptive parents. Diane Downs always wanted to be a mom, she told Inside Edition in its first-ever episode in 1989. Who is Becky Babcock and where is she now? A break in the case finally came when investigators discovered Downs' secret diaries. The outlet reported that the prison houses 3,000 inmates and, as of April, was being locked down to protect against the spread of the virus. Today, Downs is incarcerated at the Central California Womens Facility in Chowchilla, California. The judge made it clear that he did not intend for Downs to ever be free again. Investigators later discovered that she had bought the handgun in Arizona. Prosecutors laid out the evidence against Downs, all leading up to their star witness. [23] The Salem prison was located 66 miles from Hugi's home in Springfield; during her ten days of freedom, Hugi had feared that Downs would attempt to travel there in hopes of contacting her children, Christie and Danny. Danny, a computer whiz, is still partially paralyzed from the bullet in his back, but he is living a happy and normal life. And-- so with that, then we were free to treat her as need be. Downs' launched a violent attack on three of her children, Danny, Cheryl Lynn, and Christie Anne in 1983. I had a great family, a great life. In 1983, horror stuck in Oregon as a mother took it upon herself to end the life of her own children. As for Danny, he has kept his life private. Babcocks exclusive interview airs on 20/20 on Friday, March 22 (9:00 11:00 p.m. Like us on Facebook atwww.facebook.com/TheSunUSand follow us from our main Twitter account at@TheSunUS, News Group Newspapers Limited in England No. When police arrived at the scene, Downs, 27 at the time, told them a bizarre story of being flagged down by a bushy-haired stranger on a dark and deserted country road. [29] After three hours of interviews and thirty minutes of deliberation, she was denied parole. "The more she talked, the more things didn't make any sense.". "And it grew dark and upon their return home she decided to -- to do some sightseeing. Previously, Diane was housed in a maximum-security prison for women in Clinton, N.J. As for why she wasn't in Oregon where the crimes took place, " [prison] officials said they . And as long as he said that he wasn't going to be a father to anyone's children, they had to go.. Diane Downs' ex husband, Steve Downs, lost a lot in May 1983 when his ex wife shot their three children, following their divorce in 1980. Fearing there could be a gun-wielding killer on the loose, police released information to the public to be on the lookout. Downs was denied parole in December 2008, December 2010, and in 2020. 679215 Registered office: 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF. Downs, who still maintains her innocence, was convicted and sentenced to life in prison, plus 50 years. She was white She was not breathing. In 1984, Diane Downs was convicted of shooting her three children, 3-year-old Danny, 7-year-old Cheryl, and 8-year-old Christie. [1], Elizabeth Diane Downs was born on August 7, 1955 in Phoenix, Arizona, to Wesley Linden (19302017) and Willadene (Engle) Frederickson. Diane Downs Today: Where Is the Convicted Child Killer Now? She shot her three children but claimed that she was carjacked and that her children were shot by a stranger. Jaeger said. [10] Downs herself had been shot in the left forearm. Would love your thoughts, please comment. The tragedy that hit the Downs' kids changed their whole life. Her three small children, Christie, 8; Cheryl, 7; and Danny, 3, were inside her blood-soaked car, shot at close range. On Facebook, Becky wrote that she works at Pain management and went to Redmond High School. And, by the time she took them to the hospital, Cheryl was dead. Copyright 2023 Distractify. Today, 35-year-old Babcock works as a behavioral health coordinator for children in Salem, Oregon. When Downs went on trial in May of that year, she was pregnant again. That's insane to think that I would do such a thing and then bring the witnesses in against myself -- that's crazy.". But what happened to her kids, Christie Ann and Stephen "Danny" Daniel? The girl was later renamed Becky Babcock. There were all kinds of red flags that went up as we took her statement, but we wanted her to give us a complete statement, Welch said. She named the fourth baby Amy Elizabeth before the state handed her over to her adoptive parents. "They have both graduated from college. While he was looking for the keys, she jumped back in the car and sped off to the nearest hospital. Prosecutors laid out the evidence against Downs, all leading up to star! 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